Petra Kolínská, Deputy Mayor and Council Councillor of Prague for Territorial Development, former Vice-Mayor of Prague. (Photo courtesy: Petra Kolínská/Twitter)

(TibetanReview.net, Mar13, 2018) – About 200 people gathered outside the Chinese embassy in the Czech capital Prague on Mar 10 to commemorate the 59th Tibetan national uprising anniversary, with large-scale displays of the Tibetan national flag, reported praguemonitor.com Mar 12. The participants expressed support for human rights in Tibet. The report also said over 700 municipal offices across the county flew the Tibetan flag under an annual Flag for Tibet commemoration of the day.

“I have nothing against China, but I mind it very much that human rights are violated and people are stripped of their freedom of speech,” the country’s former culture minister Daniel Herman (Christian Democrats, KDU-CSL) was quoted as saying.

The report said Herman wore a shawl he had received from the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, when they met in Prague a few years ago.

The report said participants in the event signed an international petition, calling for the release of Tibetan language campaigner Tashi Wangchuk who has been in prison for two years and currently awaits verdict after a trial for alleged incitement of separatism.

The commemoration was organised by the Lungta group and the Amnesty International organization.

The report also said that Tibetan flags were hoisted by five regional offices, over 700 municipal offices, and more than 100 schools and universities throughout the Czech Republic under an annual Flag for Tibet campaign on the uprising anniversary.